08-27-2004, 11:06 AM
The Wailing Caverns, like the Deadmines, is the first instance that Horde players will be eligible for. As the "introductory" instance for these players, it's got the added feature of no-respawns, except for patrolling monsters. Since there are few patrolling monsters, total party wipeouts are not game-breakers. You can all just return to the instance and run back to where you left off.
Speaking of total wipeouts, did you see Blizzard's postings that the Paladin and the Shaman will be getting a spell that "removes" them from combat and frees them of all aggro for the duration? Now that instance monsters never lose aggro and will follow you forever, this can be the saving grace of an instance group that gets in over their head with a bad pull - guaranteeing that Paladins and Shamans will always be wanted for long instance attempts. But I digress.
There are a whopping SEVEN quests tied to the Wailing Caverns. For a party of level 20-24's (the recommended range for the instance), doing all seven can take a good 3-4 hours. If you want to get ALL seven, you need to clear the instance in one sitting. More on that later.
Six quests are found outside the Wailing Caverns, and the last one can be obtained inside. The quests are:
From Ratchet:
Smart Drinks
Trouble at the Docks
From Thunder Bluff:
Serpentbloom
Leaders of the Fang
From right outside the Wailing Caverns:
Deviate Hides
Deviate Eradication
Serpentbloom, Deviate Hides, Smart Drinks, and Trouble at the Docks can all be accomplished without actually entering the instance, but only Trouble at the Docks MUST be completed there. It's easier to finish all other quests while you're going along in the instance. To complete Serpentbloom more easily, someone in the party should have Herbalism so they can use Detect Herbs and point them out to the group.
The Wailing Caverns is a serpentine maze of sorts. The main goal is to defeat all four Leaders of the Fang, and to do so, you'll cover a lot of ground. As you enter the instance, a Disciple of Naralex can cast you a free Mark of the Wild if you talk to him. He tells you that he's waiting for an opportunity to free Naralex from the dream that's binding him. This is the "seventh" quest of the instance that you'll get to later.
Geography - as you enter the instance, a path winds down to a large cavern. The first Leader of the Fang is directly on the right of the cavern entrance. The large cavern has three exits.
1) Left, through the "river" - leads to a side cavern on the left, where at the top resides one of the Leaders of the Fang. Usually best to kill this one first.
2) Straight, where Naralex resides. You'll get to him later.
3) Right, where the bulk of the instance lies, and the final two Leaders of the Fang.
The path to the right will take you to another cavern where you'll spend the next hour, maybe two, going up. The pathway, often confusing and looping at times with multiple path branchings (for best results, have someone with you who knows the way), will take you up and up over multiple crossings. Some of the crossings are nasty, too, requiring you to jump over a gap. Fall through the gap and you fall to the bottom of the cavern, which isn't such a big deal now that the monsters no longer respawn. Before, that would completely screw you, isolating you from the rest of your party.
Midway up you'll see an area to the right of the path with a small pool and some vegetation - that's the entrance to the third Leader of the Fang. Then, at the top, is the last Leader of the Fang and a brutal monster, a giant moss creature that's level 22+. Not a big deal level-wise compared to everything else in the instance, except that this 22+ does hundreds of damage per hit. My level 20 tank warrior received 200-300 damage per hit against this creature (and I only had 650 hit points). Without a powerful healer casting CONSTANT heals, this battle cannot be won - keep that in mind. Thankfully, it's an optional creature, and is not related to a quest. However, it does drop phat lewt, so consider giving it a try.
Back to the main cavern, with all four Leaders of the Fang killed, you can now activate the seventh quest - the Disciple of Naralex needs an escort. You activate the quest by simply walking up to him; there is no quest to add to your log yet. It's best to clear out any monsters between the disciple and Naralex himself to make it easier. The Disciple will walk to Naralex and begin trying to "wake him" up from his prison in the Emerald Dream, during which you'll face two tough waves of monsters and a final boss.
Those of you who hate Murlocs will not like the final boss. :)
Killing the boss leads to a drop that starts a quest that will net you a few thousand extra experience, not to mention the really nice loot the boss drops. So, hours after you go in, you'll have completed seven quests, got a ton of great loot, and a bunch of experience from the monster kills. All without the pressure that a respawning instance forces you in to.
So, who's up for a WC run this weekend? While I'm done with all the quests there, I wouldn't mind heading in again. A bunch of players were just a bit too young for the last attempt on Wednesday and missed out.
-Bolty
Speaking of total wipeouts, did you see Blizzard's postings that the Paladin and the Shaman will be getting a spell that "removes" them from combat and frees them of all aggro for the duration? Now that instance monsters never lose aggro and will follow you forever, this can be the saving grace of an instance group that gets in over their head with a bad pull - guaranteeing that Paladins and Shamans will always be wanted for long instance attempts. But I digress.
There are a whopping SEVEN quests tied to the Wailing Caverns. For a party of level 20-24's (the recommended range for the instance), doing all seven can take a good 3-4 hours. If you want to get ALL seven, you need to clear the instance in one sitting. More on that later.
Six quests are found outside the Wailing Caverns, and the last one can be obtained inside. The quests are:
From Ratchet:
Smart Drinks
Trouble at the Docks
From Thunder Bluff:
Serpentbloom
Leaders of the Fang
From right outside the Wailing Caverns:
Deviate Hides
Deviate Eradication
Serpentbloom, Deviate Hides, Smart Drinks, and Trouble at the Docks can all be accomplished without actually entering the instance, but only Trouble at the Docks MUST be completed there. It's easier to finish all other quests while you're going along in the instance. To complete Serpentbloom more easily, someone in the party should have Herbalism so they can use Detect Herbs and point them out to the group.
The Wailing Caverns is a serpentine maze of sorts. The main goal is to defeat all four Leaders of the Fang, and to do so, you'll cover a lot of ground. As you enter the instance, a Disciple of Naralex can cast you a free Mark of the Wild if you talk to him. He tells you that he's waiting for an opportunity to free Naralex from the dream that's binding him. This is the "seventh" quest of the instance that you'll get to later.
Geography - as you enter the instance, a path winds down to a large cavern. The first Leader of the Fang is directly on the right of the cavern entrance. The large cavern has three exits.
1) Left, through the "river" - leads to a side cavern on the left, where at the top resides one of the Leaders of the Fang. Usually best to kill this one first.
2) Straight, where Naralex resides. You'll get to him later.
3) Right, where the bulk of the instance lies, and the final two Leaders of the Fang.
The path to the right will take you to another cavern where you'll spend the next hour, maybe two, going up. The pathway, often confusing and looping at times with multiple path branchings (for best results, have someone with you who knows the way), will take you up and up over multiple crossings. Some of the crossings are nasty, too, requiring you to jump over a gap. Fall through the gap and you fall to the bottom of the cavern, which isn't such a big deal now that the monsters no longer respawn. Before, that would completely screw you, isolating you from the rest of your party.
Midway up you'll see an area to the right of the path with a small pool and some vegetation - that's the entrance to the third Leader of the Fang. Then, at the top, is the last Leader of the Fang and a brutal monster, a giant moss creature that's level 22+. Not a big deal level-wise compared to everything else in the instance, except that this 22+ does hundreds of damage per hit. My level 20 tank warrior received 200-300 damage per hit against this creature (and I only had 650 hit points). Without a powerful healer casting CONSTANT heals, this battle cannot be won - keep that in mind. Thankfully, it's an optional creature, and is not related to a quest. However, it does drop phat lewt, so consider giving it a try.
Back to the main cavern, with all four Leaders of the Fang killed, you can now activate the seventh quest - the Disciple of Naralex needs an escort. You activate the quest by simply walking up to him; there is no quest to add to your log yet. It's best to clear out any monsters between the disciple and Naralex himself to make it easier. The Disciple will walk to Naralex and begin trying to "wake him" up from his prison in the Emerald Dream, during which you'll face two tough waves of monsters and a final boss.
Those of you who hate Murlocs will not like the final boss. :)
Killing the boss leads to a drop that starts a quest that will net you a few thousand extra experience, not to mention the really nice loot the boss drops. So, hours after you go in, you'll have completed seven quests, got a ton of great loot, and a bunch of experience from the monster kills. All without the pressure that a respawning instance forces you in to.
So, who's up for a WC run this weekend? While I'm done with all the quests there, I wouldn't mind heading in again. A bunch of players were just a bit too young for the last attempt on Wednesday and missed out.
-Bolty
Quote:Considering the mods here are generally liberals who seem to have a soft spot for fascism and white supremacy (despite them saying otherwise), me being perma-banned at some point is probably not out of the question.
